Purchase of 2004 Sailfish

Hound III

Hound III

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Richmond, Virginia
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I have tried to buy a couple of boats to no avail.

Today I found what I believe is an almost perfect boat for me. It is a 2004 Sailfish at a GW dealer. The dealer took it in trade a month ago and installed brand new Yamaha 250's. The boat is clean and nice. It has nice Simrad electronics and all systems appear in good shape. Of course, I will get a survey.

My concern is the price. They are asking 100K with the new engines. They are mechanical, not fly by wire. I have looked at BUC, JD Power, and numerous "for sale" and "sold" boats. I really don't think the price is unreasonable even though it is top of the range. The engines have five year warranties.

I am at a point where I think subjective input would be the most helpful.

Thanks

David
 
I am biased as I repowered my 04 SF 5 years ago with mechanical 4.2L. and I will tell you it is the prefect power packacge for the Sailfish. I struggled with investing 50+K in and 18 year old boat but when I considered the overall condition of my my boat and the cost of trying to repalce it I decided on the repower. The unkown to you is the actual condition of hull and mechanics but a good survey should give you all the info you need for your decision. The Sailfish is a great boat and I have no regrets.
 
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i think there may be some room to work. like mentioned, the engines are $50k. if the hull is worth $30k, that gets you to $80k. electronics and a trailer could get to around $90k. these are all rough estimates, but hopefully it helps
 
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Do you get the Yamaha guaranty for new motors? Just curious.
 
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Legend said:
I am biased as I repowered my 04 SF 5 years ago with mechanical 4.2L. and I will tell you it is the prefect power packacge for the Sailfish. I struggled with investing 50+K in and 18 year old boat but when I considered the overall condition of my my boat and the cost of trying to repalce it I decided on the repower. The unkown to you is the actual condition of hull and mechanics but a good survey should give you all the info you need for your decision. The Sailfish is a great boat and I have no regrets.
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Thank You. That is what I was hoping to hear. It is definitely expensive if you just look at price. I am looking forward to the survey. The boat has been shed kept its entire life, and it does not have bottom paint. Now, my biggest concern will be the transom. Thanks Again.
 
Per the ad on Boat Trader, the trailer isn't included in the price, though it is available for an extra $9k, which would put the total at $109k.
 
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TikiCharterFishing said:
I would make the dealer replace all hoses in the hull for that price. Thru-hull fittings and below waterline hoses are one of the most common causes of old boats sinking. Don’t plan on doing it yourself. In most Gradys it’s a b***h to do.
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That is a really good idea. I am perfectly content getting the boat closer to perfect than a big price adjustment.. thanks
 
Hound III said:
I don't want a trailer. I will keep it in the water.
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How do you plan on performing your 100 hr. service on the engines? That will be very important to maintaining the engine warranty. Changing the oil is doable in the water but the lower unit grease is dang near impossible.

By the way, I have a 94 Sailfish and absolutely love it. Good luck with the purchase.
 
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Late Again Grady said:
How do you plan on performing your 100 hr. service on the engines? That will be very important to maintaining the engine warranty. Changing the oil is doable in the water but the lower unit grease is dang near impossible.

By the way, I have a 94 Sailfish and absolutely love it. Good luck with the purchase.
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In all honesty, I had not thought about it. I will probably have to use a DIY yard. I have a 1500 Ram Diesel and it doesn't have the capability of pulling the boat and trailer. If I get it, the boat will be in the water most of the time in Virginia Beach.
 
Hound III said:
I don't want a trailer. I will keep it in the water.
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As mentioned above, there are more than a couple of perks to having a trailer. Of which the major one would be being able to take it anywhere you need to for fishing or boating, service and/or if a hurricane or other inclement weather just so so happened to come up your way and you needed to move it in a pinch.
 
Hound III said:
In all honesty, I had not thought about it. I will probably have to use a DIY yard. I have a 1500 Ram Diesel and it doesn't have the capability of pulling the boat and trailer. If I get it, the boat will be in the water most of the time in Virginia Beach.
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Do you keep the boat in a Marina or is one reasonable nearby?
Marinas usually have Maintenance Racks exactly for that purpose.
You will need to pay for pulling the boat with a travel lift or fork lift and a daily fee for the use of the maintenance rack what makes a 100h maintenance considerable more expensive as only pulling the boat and the 1 day use of the maintenance rack will be (much) more than 200$. Expensive but that would be the easiest way to do maintenance.
This annually cost for 100h maintenance depend on how much 100h servicing you will do per year.

Second solution would be to find someone with a trailer who pull it on a ramp, DIY backyard and back to the ramp, but that will be expensive as well and trailering with a unknown trailer is not always a safe story.

Third is you get your own trailer, but the investment and the space needed for storage don't really make it worth.

I personally would use a marina to do that as it's the most easy way.

Check with a Yamaha dealership nearby what they suggest and what they charge to come to a marina to do the job.

Chris
 
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You can get a lot of short hauls for 9k. Dealer ship boats will always be on the upper end of the price range. It may not be a bad idea to ask the dealership that took it in on trade, if they had sold the boat new or to the previous owner. If so, they may have maintenance records on it. I have looked at a number of dealership boats in which this was the case. I like the idea of having them replace the hoses, but highly doubtful they will. I looked at a dealership boat when I was upgrading that looked beautiful up top. On the survey it was found that the hoses were rotten, and the deal fell apart.
 
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Trailering ....your Ram diesel is like a superhero compared to my Econoline E350 pulling my Marlin300 on a triple axle with no brakes ... ..... Now with that said !!! and before I get destroyed here !!! I only pull it 3/4 of a block from on a small street from the ramp to my house at no more than 5 MPH... Usually only twice a year .... If that fits your bill than it's do-able ..
 
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FYI.. I am pretty sure you can extend the warranty an additional two years.
 
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I think you will really like that boat. I owned the 2004 Sailfish for 15+ years. It is a great all-around boat - good for family outings and in-shore fishing. We had zero problems with the boat with the big exception of the exhaust rot on the 225 Yamahas. I liked the boat so much I intended to replace the engines to fix that problem, BUT a great salesman convinced me to trade it in for a 323 Canyon (which is a better fishing boat).
 
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Sjoyce15 said:
I think you will really like that boat. I owned the 2004 Sailfish for 15+ years. It is a great all-around boat - good for family outings and in-shore fishing. We had zero problems with the boat with the big exception of the exhaust rot on the 225 Yamahas. I liked the boat so much I intended to replace the engines to fix that problem, BUT a great salesman convinced me to trade it in for a 323 Canyon (which is a better fishing boat).
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Sjoyce, I remember when you bought the boat from me brand new!!....I have driven through the lagoon a couple times this year and your new boat is beautiful. It has been a minute since we last communicated!! I currently have a 2001 Sailfish and my family and I love the boat.
Like Sjoyce said, it is a fantastic boat for inshore fishing and family cruising.
 
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